Salt and Light Blog

Yesterday Kermit Gosnell was found guilty on three of the four charges of baby murder. Much rejoicing was seen on social media and some not so Christlike comments followed on. While I understand the desire for vengeance, no one fights this urge greater than me, we must remember that we have a God of justice even when injustice seems to rule the land. Solomon reminds us:

“Moreover I saw under the sun: in the place of judgment, wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, iniquity was there. I said in my heart, ‘God shall judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.’” (Ecclesiastes 3:16-17)

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Our pastor Bro Dennis is beginning a men’s study on leadership. Men, if you are a member of Midway Baptist Church or live in the Florida Panhandle, please consider this an invitation to join us on Monday evenings from 6:00 – 7:30 (Bible Study begins at 6:30).

I am so looking forward to this teaching.

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Is there anything more frustrating for a Christian than someone you have witnessed to who believes in Christ but will not confess Him because of how it may be received by others? That frustration is not a rare emotion; in fact a couple of days before Christ was crucified, He experienced that same frustration:

“Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. Then Jesus cried out and said, ‘He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me. And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me.’” (John 12:42-45)

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Last night I presented this question to my social media followers and blog email list:

“What does the Bible think about social issues? Is it inclusive and welcoming? Is it concerned with limiting its ability to attract young people and others, including many women, who agree with the Bible on some but not all issues?”

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Last time we met we talked about perseverance. We learned that it is important that we endure and never quit knowing that our Lord Jesus Christ endured on the cross. We finished stating that if we will persevere, then the holiness, the Christlikeness, the godliness we so desperately need and hopefully desire, will follow.

The Evangelical Dictionary of Theology defines godliness as “the manner of life that is centered on God, with special reference to devotion, piety, and reverence toward Him. It can be defined as the conjunction of an attitude of devotion to God and of the consequent right conduct.”

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My pastor uses a most excellent word for perseverance: stickability. It means sticking to the task no matter how great the challenges. It means never giving up on God because He is never giving up on us. It means giving all diligence to our spiritual growth.

“But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.” (2 Peter 1:5-9)

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We have many enemies in this world. Our greatest enemy, for those without Christ, is death. Death is the enemy of God. God created life; Satan created death, despair, and disease. Suffering is the antithesis to creation. As you read the creation story in Genesis 1 you see death, despair, and disease were not a part of the original plan. In fact when God finished, the Bible tells us:

“Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.” (Genesis 1:31)

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If we were to be perfectly honest, I would guess that 75% of Christians struggle the most with self-control – especially men. Whether it be lusts of the flesh, our tongues, covetousness, whatever the issue, we struggle with self-control. For many of us, we try to get to a level of temperance without first building our faith, integrity, and Biblical wisdom. And it’s not a destination either; we have to maintain those if we are to achieve and sustain self-control.

At times I like to pat myself on the pat if I have “a good week” of walking the straight and narrow, but I really shouldn’t:

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My apologies for taking so long to get to our second characteristic in spiritual growth – knowledge. After virtue comes knowledge, the type of knowledge that we get from learning about God through His holy word. We are students of God.

“But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge…” (2 Peter 1:5)

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In his second epistle, the Apostle Peter gives us seven steps to spiritual growth.

“But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 1:5-8)

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So how do we keep from backsliding, and once we find ourselves in such a state how do we get back? The answer is simple but the execution is not always easy. It dovetails with trying to figure out God’s will for our lives. I’ve written this before but it bears repeating: so many Christians struggle with trying to figure out God’s will for their lives. Well, do you do what you already know what God wants you to do? If you know what God wants you to do, then do what He wants you to do. Jesus said:

“If you love Me, keep My commandments.” (John 14:15)

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We never just walk away. We are prone to wander. That’s why Jesus called us sheep. Without following the sound of our Shepherd, by not remaining with the flock, we wander off. We walk into all types of danger. That’s why Jesus told the Parable of the Lost Sheep in Matthew 18 of the rejoicing of one found, not one saved, but of one found that has returned. (see Luke 15 for one saved).

“Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven. For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.” (Matthew 10-14)

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Random House Dictionary defines fearlessness as “without fear; bold or brave; intrepid.” Intrepid means to be “resolutely fearless; dauntless.” Let’s rest on this last definition. To be resolutely fearless means I am resolved not to fear. It doesn’t mean fear wont’ come, it means I am resolved not to fear. What’s the difference? The difference is I am not going to focus on my fears when such thoughts and emotions come. I am going to change my focus from my fear to my Father. It means having faith in a faithful Father:

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh, my enemies and foes, they stumbled and fell. Though an army may encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war may rise against me, in this I will be confident. One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple.” (Psalm 27:1-4)

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Moral courage seems to be in short supply these days, particularly in Washington, D.C. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives is set to vote on increasing the debt limit as early as today. I’ve read any number of pragmatic opinion pieces on why the Republicans have no choice but to raise the limit.

Of course they have a choice. It isn’t a matter of choice, it’s a matter of courage.

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This past weekend Karen and I went to visit our oldest daughter Tiffany and her beautiful family. Her husband Ben and their son Benjamin, our precious grandson, are always such a blessing with whom to spend time. Sunday we went to church and even had the chance to worship with a friend formerly from here now living in St. Petersburg. It is something I heard in church that I must share with you this morning.

Dr. Stephen Rummage, the senior pastor of Bell Shoals Baptist Church in Brandon, FL, is a fine man of God who preaches the Word unashamedly and unapologetically. He was preaching about our being adopted into the family of God and he told the story of a young lady who was speaking with her mother about her child’s dark hair. She could not figure out how their child got dark hair since she and her husband both had light hair. Her mother said, “Well dear, your father has dark hair.” The daughter replied, “Yeah but Mom, I’m adopted.” The mother shyly replied, “Yeah I know, I keep forgetting.”

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Why redemption? Why do we need a Redeemer? I think we answered the part of the price of sin and its unquenchable cost. But what of after we are saved? Do I still need a Redeemer if I have salvation in hand? How does Christ the Redeemer help me after I am saved?

We, although saved from it, we are still living in a fallen world. And if the world looked like Hiroshima after a nuclear strike, then no doubt we would not be enamored with it. And yet we live in a lovely world, a lustful world filled with wonders and wants that our flesh greatly desires even after redemption. We still look at the world with loving and longing eyes and we do so for only one reason.

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My strongest spiritual gift is the gift of criticism. What’s that? Criticism is not a spiritual gift? You could have fooled me with how naturally it comes to me, especially when I got my Christian on. I cannot only inspect some fruit, I can tell you how it was planted, on my worse days that is.

Being judgmental is so easy, it’s like I have a fault radar that sweeps out to a range of 50 miles finding all the faults of others all the while me being at the main bang (the center of the radar as we air traffic controllers call it) and missing any notice of me.

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During Christmas we dwell on the birth of Christ and we also add in an event that happen some two years after His birth. The visit from the Wise Men from the East, men known as Magi. The Apostle Matthew gives the account:

“Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.’ When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. So they said to him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet: “But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.”’ Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, ‘Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.’ When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.” (Matthew 2:1-12)

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The Prophet Isaiah foretold the coming of Christ in a way that surpasses human understanding:

“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14)

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So by all accounts the earth is still spinning on its axis and evil has not prevailed. You would think that evil had triumphed by looking at the headlines, but evil is just having its heyday. As I wrote earlier, Satan knows his time is short and he is emptying out hell. But his time is short, nevertheless. Solomon wrote of evil’s fullness and finality:

“For I considered all this in my heart, so that I could declare it all: that the righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God. People know neither love nor hatred by anything they see before them. All things come alike to all: One event happens to the righteous and the wicked; to the good, the clean, and the unclean; to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As is the good, so is the sinner; he who takes an oath as he who fears an oath. This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: that one thing happens to all. Truly the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead.” (Ecclesiastes 9:1-3)

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